. And I suck at growing tomatoes, don't know why.
I suck at growing any root crops. My soil is quite acidic because to the spruce trees and the only way I can get anything to bulb up is to sock the lime to the bed. I'm way too lazy to do that. So no carrots, no potatoes, no garlic, no beets, but lots of beet greens (yum!).
My tomatoes do well when it's hot and dry... we had a summer two season's back that was wet, wet, wet.... and the blight knocked out most of my plants before anything ripened.
I get a lot of voles too, a mess or rabbits, and last season the deer discovered my Swiss Chard... repeatedly. So those are going into pots on the patio this year. And I'm going to buy some coyote urine at the nature store before the hoofed horde find my hostas.
.....Nancy The road to hell is paved....... run trails!
And I'm going to buy some coyote urine at the nature store before the hoofed horde find my hostas.
If you have a wood-burning stove or fireplace, save the ash for the summer. We spread it on our hostas to keep the deer away - they hate the grittiness of it. It does no harm to the plants. The only downside is that you have to reapply after each good rain.
Jay
Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos.
I love these gardens! My garden has a 6 ft fence around it to keep deer, rabbits and other critters out, although occassionally, I find a raised tunnel, so I know I mole is under there somewhere. I would guesstimate that out of the 500 sq ft of my garden, around 2/3 of it is used for my veggies. I have some perennial flowers and herbs in part of it and a small strawberry patch. then my work bench takes up some space also. Last summer I found that planting my rows closer together and putting a bed of straw down around all my plants really helped them alot. The got so much fuller, more lush and produced way more than previous years. Having the rows closer together seemed to keep the ground around them shaded better, which retained more moisture in the ground. plus having straw around all the plants helped in that regard also. We get very little rain from June-August.
Tammy
Look at my seed basket!
Peas, kale, swiss-chard and3 kinds of lettuce are on the ground as of 4pm this afternoon.
I found a perfect spot for the 30 bulbs of gladioli too.
"Champions are everywhere; all you need is to train them properly..." ~Arthur Lydiard
flatland mountaineer
We will be lucky if we get time to dump boxes and put a pound of sweet corn seed in the big planter, otherwise no garden 'cause the big planter runs as long and hard as 2 people can run and support it. Dad never had a garden until he semi retired and moved to town. I have to admit he made the neighbors efforts look pretty bad.. Hope to start this week as soon as we get some drying and warming.
The whole world said I shoulda used red but it looked good to Charlene in John Deere Green!!
Support Ethanol, drink the best, burn the rest.
Run for fun? What the hell kind of recreation is that? quote from Back to the Fut III
Look at my seed basket! Peas, kale, swiss-chard and3 kinds of lettuce are on the ground as of 4pm this afternoon. I found a perfect spot for the 30 bulbs of gladioli too.
Kale! That's what I've been meaning to start.....thanks for the reminder.
Tried to get the back beds cleaned out last weekend, but only lasted a half hour before the snow sent me back inside for warmth. I've a week off coming up to work on the big chores.... edging and turning the 20X10 vegetable garden, but I usually have everything cut back by the end of March. The combination of the heaviest training schedule ever and lousy weather made sure that didn't happen. Now I have to get all the yard work done in between my 20+ mile runs. Achhhh!
On the bright side, all the tomatoes are up and the zinnias are ready to transplant.
Yay.... the hamstrings are loose enough to let me do my edging, but the rain has conspired to turn my week-off-to-garden into a hit and miss proposition. And the roofers have flattened my woodland garden, just as everything was starting to sprout!
Basil plants are ready to be transplanted, but still too cold....hummm...maybe I should just cook with them and then buy plants later.
But I got 4 more perennials to go on the republican garden
Looking at hemroculus garden makes me want to hide as a gardener, but I sure have fun learning to be one. I just started taking gardening a few years back, so I am still in the learning stage.
True to my wild, carefree spirit I plant the flowers where I think each of them would want to be planted, many a times I am so wrong, but I am learning. The most invaluable lesson I have learned in the last few years is that I live in an arid, desert, so my garden will never look like my dream, my tropical dream that is.
Today I planted the tomatoes I have inherited yesterday. I thought they were like 6 plants...wrong...they came in a clamp of like 50 (long story). I got a call from the donor of the plants and she told me that they are heirloom tomatoes. I planted 15 today, what am I going to do with them all?
I guess the food-banks will be happy with me this year.
I also finished the republican side of my flower garden. Dear son #2 suggested I start a Tea Party segment also!
Don't you love just spring?
OK, I'll bite, Mari....... why do you call it your Republican garden?
I'm afraid I'm not very good at figuring out where the plants would like to be, aside from the obvious attributes, like shade/sun, dry/moist, or tall/short. Usually I'm trying simply to find a wee bit of space so the new additions don't get overwhelmed by their bully neighbours.
I am soooo far behind on my garden this year... I haven't even transplanted all the tomatoes I started back in March! The plants that were indoors for the winter and the cuttings (mostly various geraniums and plectranthus) are now at least outside, and I spent this last Sunday cruising the garden centres for annuals for the pots... but haven't planted a single one yet. Added a few new herbs (lavender, thyme, and santolina) to the herb garden, picked up some hot peppers, basil, rosemary, variegated marjoram and mints for my DH. The lettuce, cucumbers, beans and kale are now planted. Still need to get some zucchini for the veggie beds and impatiens for colour.
But the perennial beds are really taking off and looking luscious!
Will try to post a few more recent pics tonight, if I can find the time to download them all off the camera.
I'm behind on my garden also. On Sunday, I did get quite a bit planted though. I bought tomato, bell pepper, jalapeno, thai pepper and zucchini starts so I got all those in. This year for tomatos I'm doing roma's, ace, pear, and sweet cherry 100's. I got all my seeds in for lemon cucumbers (and I bought one start for a regular cucumber plant also), carrots, beets. and my spinach, lettuce and sugar snap peas are up. I need to get in my bean seeds and that is the most time consuming. About 1/2 of my 500 sq ft garden or so is dedicated to green beans. I might not use all that space though this year. Last year, I got so many beans and still have ALOT of canned beans, so I don't think I need quite as many this year.
I also planted some rosemary and basil in pots near the house. I only wish my basil and tomatos were done at the same time. nothing better than a fresh open face basil, tomato sandwich, drizzed with olive oil and a thin slice of fresh mozz. mmmmmm.
yes, just what does a republican garden mean?
Prince of Fatness
All of my potatoes have been up for a while now. I mulched them up with leaves once already. I need to do it again. Tomatoes went in last weekend. So far I've done a pretty good job in keeping the vegetable garden weeded. I probably won't have time to put squash and beans in for a few weeks.
I also planted some geraniums and impatiens around the house. I didn't divide any perennials last year so everything is a bit haphazard. I definitely need to divide them and rearrange things a bit this fall. Next up will be putting fresh mulch in all of the flower beds.
Watering has not been an issue here. With all of the rain we have received I have had to mow the lawn every 3 - 4 days.
Not at it at all.
Tammy, if you keep pinching the bloom buds off the basil, you should have some nice fragrant leaves still there when the tomatoes ripen.
Here's an image from last week........
Why do I have a Republican garden and a Democratic garden?
the answer is very simple...
We have members of both parties in this house (got to love a Democratic family) so...when it comes time to promote your political candidate you can freely do so on your party side of the family...yeah...you should see the crazy look we get from drivers... ... since we live in a high traffic segment of town...
but you also have to pull the weeds, fertilize and care for your party's garden.
I tell you...it is a good way to have the boys out in the yard!
Someone suggested for me to start a Tea party section...my answer? not now!!!
I think I killed the gorgeous basil plants I was gifted!!!
I tell you...being a newbie at veg. gardening has it's price!!!
But on the other hand...I saw three new flowers on the tomattillos tonight!!!
Mari. Pinch the basil back and then put the plants in a window - South or West - and wait until the weather is warmer. Keep watered and keep pinching and enjoying. Just don't let them go to seed, and don't pinch off all the leaves. I have kept a plant going, and kept using leaves since last fall. BTW, let me know wht you guys are wearing on Sat. so I can see you as you whizz by in Newport. do you know your number, or do you have to wait until you pick it up?
All of you with great gardens amaze me.